One of my favorite things to eat is pasta, but I have noticed that the jarred sauces (that we get just about free with couponing) just don’t quite cut it for me anymore. I have been looking for an easy FLAVORFUL recipe for pasta, and this one is definitely it. If you are a cheese person, or alfredo person, or you just love amazing food, you NEED to give this recipe a try. I love the roasted garlic as it is SO simple, yet adds TONS of flavor. Keep in mind that you can also substitute this for minced garlic if you are short on time, but you just won’t get the incredible depth of flavor that you will get if you do this one right. Also, turn this into a full dinner by mixing some kind of pasta + veggies + protein + garnish as well; that is my recipe for a full meal. Here we go!
Roasted Garlic Cream Alfredo Sauce
1 Head Garlic
Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, Red Pepper to taste
1 Tbl Butter
1 Tbl Flour
1 c Milk
1/2 c Chicken Stock
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/2 c Parmesan (+ more for garnish)
Make it a meal by adding any pasta, protein, and garnish. I like using chicken and even a bag of frozen veggies to keep it simple!
- Preheat oven to 400, and prepare the garlic. Chop off the top so that some of the cloves are exposed, and drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Wrap the head in foil and bake for 45 minutes. Keep in mind that it will be very hot when you are squeezing out the pulp, so allow it to cool as much as you need to be able to handle (cools pretty quickly).
- In a large pan (if you are cooking the protein now, just use the same pan; don’t bother cleaning it), melt butter, and add flour; cook 15 seconds or so while stirring until all of the flour and butter are mixed together. Add the milk and chicken stock, and then squeeze out all of the garlic into the pan. smash up the garlic and flour pieces using the back of a wooden spoon, and continue mixing/smashing until well incorporated; bring to a boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes until thickened, and add salt, pepper, nutmeg, red pepper, and Parmesan cheese. Continue cooking if necessary for another minute or two to thicken.
- Toss pasta in sauce, as well as any veggies. Slice/chop protein and place on top, and then add any garnish (i.e. Parmesan, parsley, diced tomatoes, basil, etc). DONE!
As you can see, I used the same basic idea for both of these dishes, while making completely different pasta dishes. Enjoy!!
